Northern Thailand’s Smoke Crisis: Policy Failure or Regional Reality?

Northern Thailand is once again under a blanket of toxic haze—but this year feels different. In this episode of Thailand Explained, we examine the worsening PM2.5 crisis in Chiang Mai and across the north, comparing last year’s more proactive enforcement with what appears to be a slower, less visible response under Anutin Charnvirakul and the current provincial leadership.We break down what’s actually happening on the ground, what hasn’t changed, and where enforcement may have weakened. At the same time, we step back to understand the regional forces—cross-border burning, seasonal weather patterns, and agricultural cycles—that make this crisis bigger than Thailand alone.Is this a failure of policy, a breakdown in enforcement, or the limits of what any government can realistically control?